Sunday, November 30, 2008

Sorry I have not been active. You guys definitely make me wish I was active. Here is my new movie trailer. I don't know if you all saw it. I think you should all be listening to Holiday Road by Lindsey Buckingham. It makes me feel like I'm doing so much even if I just sit here writing you all. It also reminds me of Chevy Chase. I love you all.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

A View of the Boundary Between All Things from the Peak of Mount Traros Pondengara: A Compleat Map of the Discovered Universes, A Partial Chronology of the Artist, and a Spell for Self-Emanating Joy2'2" x 2'6" pen, blood, and cyanoacrylate on craft paper

about another two weeks worth of work. may be speeding up. or i may be retarded.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Two weekends ago the La County Museum of art (Lacma), (another place I’m lucky enough to work at) collaborated with Machine Project http://machineproject.net/, a small little LA gem of an art gallery/ community hub that supports alternative art media and projects. The day long event was called Field Guide. Hundreds of artists, organizations, and volunteers contributed to the transformation and rethinking of the huge Lacma campus and its encyclopedic museumcollection. Musicians were planted in the elevators, galleries, hallways and the Serra pieces. Kinetic sculptures were put into conversation with paintings. A speed metal guitarist rocked out for a minute on the hour throughout the day, there was a murder mystery challenge with clues planted around the museum, ambient haircuts( artists would play guitars and synthesizers while hair stylists cut museum patrons hair free of charge), a walking pepper can man, a painting recreated in flowers, and a dance party to cheer up “the loneliest gallery” ( the contemporary photography gallery, which is tucked away into a corner of the museum that not much foot traffic goes through), in addition to hundreds of other interesting things that you can check out on machine projects website, or Lacma's blog http://lacma.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/qa-with-machine-projects-mark-allen/.The project is yet another success for Michael Govan (director of Lacma, formally from Dia Art Foundation) and Charlotte Cotton, head curator of photography (formally from the Tate Modern). I’m consistently surprised by the exciting and intelligent choices they have made to update the museum and re-think the museum model in order to integrate it into the community and assert itself as a cultural power. It’s really neat to see as the museum changes and also the unique challenges and opportunities Los Angeles museums have.So basically I’m saying..COME TO VISIT LA!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

I work at a place called the Corita Art Center http://corita.org/which is a small non profit gallery that oversees the work of Corita Kent, aka Sister Corita. Corita was a nun artist, most well known for her pop art images of the 1960s. She was regarded as figurehead for the reformation of the church and was even on the cover of Newsweek . Her prints subverted commercial imagery and slogans in order to speak about social, political, and religious issues. Some speculate that her Mary's day celebrations, which were big happenings at her college, Immaculate Heart, inspired parts of the summer of love in 1969. Immaculate Heart College hosted luminaries like Buckminster Fuller, Alfred Hitchcock and Ray and Charles Eames, and Corita was known for her demanding and unconventional teaching techniques.In short, she was pretty damn awesome.Corita lived in a community of radical nuns who all eventually decided to leave the order due to pressure from the conservative Los Angeles archdiocese, and now I get to work with some of them. These women were real rebels, despite their religious titles back in the day and they remain smart, interesting, and fiesty.There has been a recent resurgence of interest in Corita's work, some of the most recent shows were at SF Moma, PS1 and lots or international museums and galleries that would take too much effort for me to spell correctly. Things are pretty busy.It would have been Corita's 90th birthday this month( she died of cancer in the 80's) so this weekend we had a celebration and Aaron Rose, curato, write, art man extraodinare, and Director of Beautiful Losers http://www.beautifullosers.com/ , began interviewing members of the community who knew Corita. I'm really excited to see what comes of the footage and the exhibition Aaron is mounting in February!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

A View of the Boundary Between All Things from the Peak of Mount Traros Pondengara: A Compleat Map of the Discovered Universes, A Partial Chronology of the Artist, and a Spell for Self-Emanating Joy2'2" x 2'6" pen on craft paper

it's been about three weeks of six to twelve hour nights. i'm a tenth done, maybe less.see you in awhile.

UPDATE: the brown spots are krazy glue left over from working on a sculpture on the paper, previous to the drawing. it's what drew me to the specific sheet.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

So I already did a post just talking about Dan's piece in the show, but I had mentioned here that I wanted to maybe talk about some other stuff in it and I never really went into detail at all about my pieces. So...

This is a detail shot of a section of the piece I was calling In Light of Current Events, but I think I'd rather call it Yesterday's News. Pithy titles aside, I just want to post some pictures of the pieces. In the floor part (the detail above) I used a variation of a technique I talked about earlier here, only instead of using paint to extract the images I poured plaster into a mold which I lined with newspaper. When the plaster dried, the newspaper stuck to it and after I demolded each piece I peeled off the paper and was left with images - so these are sort of like a transfer fresco. Anyways, the wall pieces are on cardboard, each section, comprised of 8"x8" squares is about 32"x64." The floor section is of roughly the same dimensions.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

For those who don't know, thats the legendary Ralph Stanley, who recently took on an even greater significance than usual because of his efforts to win over voters of southwest Virginia for Obama. Check this sweet radio ad:

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Dan pointed out to me that if you go to dibbledibble.blogspot.com, you find another blog, detailing the life of a young family that recently had their first child, but which can be kind of surreally funny when you're expecting to get this website. especially when the music comes in.

check it quickly. i'll wait.

ok, so in honor of that, I'm posting this recording which was made by happenstance, several weeks ago when my friend Robbie was in town and we were recording music over at Dani's house. enjoy.

here is a mix i made last night, i had to start over like five times so you should really take the time to download it, even if it takes half an hour, throw it on your itunes and turn it up really loud.

this one is mostly 4 x 4 and dubstep followed by a few old house jams from the crates.i hope to be putting together mixtapes regularly, focusing on different genres and themes, if you clowns have any ideas please shoot them my way!

ps: our website, www.neonmonster.com, is now up and fully functional, so please pay it a visit and buy some shit. i will probably post a discount code on here soon for friends and family, cuz we love you so so much.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

pencil by the gza, off the last album, pro tools.there's no chorus and rza kills it kills it kills it for the last 2 minutes straight.i am dumbfounded every time i hear this just following the logic of his flow, it's amazing so here's the lyrics too. i was only going to put rza's but that's not fair so here's the whole track.i fixed what i found wrong, but lemme know if i missed somethin'

[GZA]The echo chamber enhance the flow wit the block partyKeep an MC head spinning like Dark BacardiThis B.A.C. is 2.3Now the liver's damaged, but his lungs are joint freeSo inhale, exhale, breathe and get wellKick something live stop chirping like NextelI'm All In Together, a swordsman foreverI paint the town red, with many heads are severedR-A-W, I still bring trouble toThrow your raps in the sleephold, quick to snuggle youDart heat your breastplate, meet ya death dateRook down a E4, look, it's checkmateNo other way to describe a catastropheThe plan was drawing blood and displayed it graphicallyDirect order, hit the border, then slaughterHorrific torture, by prolific authorsShape and mold MC's, like I'm playing the skelly topIt's getting 'hot in here' like the single that Nelly droppedSo take ya clothes off, the track is so softA little rock'll turn 'em into Ivan KoloffWhy do the Gods make MC's study fromThirty five, and fifty year, then try to becomeUnder the study with the sword above the headSo he would keep in mind under the open pledge

[Masta Killa]Fierce glisten, something so sharpPiercing, swords cling, the vigilante intimateClose combat, this is MC'ing at it's bestBut there is no contest, sent I'm thisSpeaking of a test, this and try to question thisHe so different with the swiftness, godfather civilizationShell casing, universal nationCould he be the one predicted, presidential sent inOld school soul to war us, be the growlestAsiatic artic flow is so frigid

[RZA]Is it, the Zig Zag, I'mma pay you a visitSome may mistake me as an old wise wizardWorld, I'm not the sameI go somewhere, don't remember how I cameIs it the weed, the hash or the 'caine?Or the Digi being stained on my brainAppear from a cloud of smoke, the voter's on chokeIf surrounded, seven men drop from one strokeEven if my feet was shackled down and one handcuffedTo defeat me, ten demons wouldn't be enoughI sleep in the lion's den, without the steel ironAscended like Wu, so coming down from Mt. ZionSuperlogical this, superlogical thatDigital, take it back with superlogical rapHave a shootout, at midnight, the see who's quickerForty four colt jolt, all you seen was the flickerYou distressed like the damsal, lost like little hanselA flame couldn't generate the heat of a candleMe, I be a Killa Bee, keeping auxileryOl' play the desert e, shoot ten millime'Faster than millipede, you try to end the seaYour body being found in the neighbor yard artilleryA black blind governor, a rich white mayorMan, this whole city ain't got a prayerBobby has invaded, now the whole town's slatedYour decapitated head is being took and out paradedUp and down the avenue, I drive a shatterproofBenz, and all my men's are tattle proofMy mic is a dyke, my life is a lightA Day to God is a Thousand Years, how long is a night?You get trapped in my shadow of dark, hark, who goes there?Power-U smells like carp, don't put your nose thereDrop you to a tank of sharks, your wound's bleedingAnd it's been two weeks since they had their last feedingAin't nothing but bones, we grind into sandAnd spread it out, over 20 acres of landSome call me Steels, cuz it's hard to bend meC-Cypher Pigs, can't apprehend meIn a no smoking zone, I smoke bones of hashNiggas see me, then I disappear in the flashNext time I'm spotted, I got the fatter walletMoving with a click that stick like dry porrageSomeone's been sitting in my chair, who goes there?To sub zero cold, your words can't flow hereGlaciers of ice, plus layers of spiceSay your prayers at night, 'fore you touch that mic

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

check out where my painting was in "HEAVY Corner", the most recent exhibit at CAA curated by the lovely Kristin Calabrese.the gallery space is in the 2nd floor lounge. those stairs were fun with a 12ft painting above your head...the painting is actually hung flush with the edge of the wall "transit", 9' x 12', oil on canvasthese were my other 8 pieces in the back room of the show. all oil on canvas and around 2ft max